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Using that small mirror in horizontal long-axis orientation, is it better to snug it close to the window, or to put it on an airfoil-shaped short strut but further out into the slipstream?
The airfoil-shaped strut would give a better viewing angle, and maybe put turbulence from the mirror away from the window, so air could flow between mirror and window. Less drag this way, or more? Noise?
I ask because Hoerner's Fluid Dynamic Drag book has a section on external stores (bombs, drop tanks) on aircraft. Says such external stores even though streamlined, should be separated from wing or fuselage by ~0.4 diameter and attached by streamlined strut. So, per Hoerner, least drag of a 12" diameter bomb is to mount it on a streamlined strut of ~5" and not snugged to the wing or fuselage.
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